Learning to be a Community of Reconciliation (2)
I. Required readings
Christian Biography for the Day: Absalom Jones
By Raphaelle Peale c. 1810
Chittister, Chapter 14 (“Peace: Sign of the Disarmed Heart”), 181-93
(Link to film via Film Reflection Assignment on
Canvas.)
II. Quotation for the
day
“When Jesus proclaimed the
--Clarence Jordan, founder of a
multi-racial Christian community in
III. Journal prompts
1. The Ephesians passage insists that part of the gospel (“the good news”) is that God has broken down the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile and out of two people has created “one new humanity.” What are the social barriers and dividing walls that need to be overcome in our day? In what ways are those barriers being broken down in and through the community of Jesus’ disciples? In what ways do we continue to build up and sustain these walls?
2. How do the readings from Arnold and Chittister stretch your understanding of “peace”? In light of these readings, how would you understand the beatitude: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9)?
3. In what ways is the work of the Spirit, announced in Joel and fulfilled in the Book of Acts, a work of reconciliation and peacemaking?
IV. Links of possible
interest
Sam Hodges “The Enduring Influence of Clarence Jordan” A brief article profiling the faith and influence of this remarkable Baptist from the Bible Belt.
Johann Christoph Arnold, “What
is Peace?”